AMBE SCHOOL-CBSE

Manjalpur, Vadodara -11.

Pre-Mid Exam Year : 2021-22
Subject : English
Grade: X Max. Marks: 40
Day & Date: Thursday, 15th July’21 Duration:1 ½ Hours
Name of the Student: ____________________________________________________________ Section: ________ Seat No. ________
General instructions:
1. This paper is divided into two parts: A and B. All questions are compulsory.
2. Separate instructions are given with each section and question, wherever necessary. Read these
instructions carefully and follow them.
3. Do not exceed the prescribed word limit while answering the questions.
PART-A (20 MARKS)
Q.1 Read the following passage. (1x10=10)
1. No student of a foreign language needs to be told that grammar is complex. By changing word
sequences and by adding a range of auxiliary verbs and suffixes, we are able to communicate tiny
variations in meaning. We can turn a statement into a question, state whether an action has taken
place or is soon to take place, and perform many other word tricks to convey subtle differences in
meaning. Nor is this complexity inherent to the English language. All languages, even those of so-
called ‘primitive’ tribes have clever grammatical components. The Cherokee pronoun system, for
example, can distinguish between ‘you and I’, ‘several other people and I’ and ‘you, another
person and I’. In English, all these meanings are summed up in the one, crude pronoun ‘We’.
Grammar is universal and plays a part in every language, no matter how widespread it is. So, the
question which has baffled many linguists is—who created grammar?
2. At first, it would appear that this question is impossible to answer. To find out how grammar
is created, someone needs to be present at the time of a language’s creation, documenting its
emergence. Many historical linguists are able to trace modern complex languages back to earlier
languages, but in order to answer the question of how complex languages are actually formed, the
researcher needs to observe how languages started from scratch. Amazingly, however, this is
possible.
3. Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the Atlantic slave trade. At that time, slaves
from a number of different ethnicities were forced to work together under colonizer’s rule. Since,
they had no opportunity to learn each other’s languages, they developed a make-shift language
called a pidgin. Pidgins are strings of words copied from the language of the landowner. They
have little in the way of grammar, and in many cases it is difficult for a listener to deduce when an
event happened, and who did what to whom. Speakers need to use circumlocution in order to
make their meaning understood. Interestingly, however, all it takes for a pidgin to become a
complex language is for a group of children to be exposed to it at the time when they learn their
mother tongue. Slave children did not simply copy the strings of words uttered by their elders,
they adapted their words to create a new, expressive language. Complex grammar systems which
emerge from pidgins are termed creoles and they are invented by children.
4. Further evidence of this can be seen in studying sign languages for the deaf. Sign languages are
notsimply a series of gestures; they utilise the same grammatical machinery that is found in
spoken languages. Moreover, there are many different languages used worldwide. The creation of
one such language was documented quite recently in Nicaragua. Previously, all deaf people were
isolated from each other, but in 1979 a new government introduced schools for the deaf.
Although children were taught speech and lip reading in the classroom, in the playgrounds they
began to invent their own sign system, using the gestures that they used at home. It was basically
a pidgin. Each child used the signs differently, and there was no consistent grammar. However,
children who joined the school later, when this inventive sign system was already around,
developed a quite different sign language. Although it was based on the signs of the older
children, the younger children’s language was more fluid and compact, and it utilised a large
range of grammatical devices to clarify meaning. What is more, all the children used the signs in
the same way? A new creole was born.
5. Some linguists believe that many of the world’s most established languages were creoles at
first. The English past tense –ed ending may have evolved from the verb ‘do’. ‘It ended’ may once
have been ‘It end-did’. Therefore, it would appear that even the most widespread languages were
partly created by children. Children appear to have innate grammatical machinery in their brains,
which springs to life when they are first trying to make sense of the world around them. Their
minds can serve to create logical, complex structures, even when there is no grammar present for
them to copy.
1.1. On the basis of your understanding of the passage, answer any ten of the following
questions by choosing the most appropriate option:
(a) Complexity in language is inherent to......
i) all the languages ii) English
iii) tribal languages iv) primitive languages
(b) The Cherokee pronoun system can distinguish between......
i) you and I ii) several other people and I
iii) you, another person and I iv) all of these
(c) Based on your understanding of the passage, choose the option that lists the correct sequence
of the sentences associated with the formation/ creation of grammar.
1. In order to answer the question of how complex languages are actually formed, the researcher
needs to observe how languages started from scratch.
2. Slaves developed a make-shift language called a pidgin.
3. Some linguists believe that many of the world’s most established languages were creoles at
first.
4. To find out how grammar is created, someone needs to be present at the time of a language’s
creation.
i) 1, 2, 3, 4 ii) 3, 4, 1, 2
iii) 4, 1, 2, 3 iv) 2, 1, 3, 4
(d) All the following sentences about Nicaraguan sign language are true except:
i) the language has been created since 1979
ii) the language is based on speech and lip reading
iii) the language incorporates signs which children used at home
iv) the language was perfected by younger children
(e) Which option represents who partly invented the complex grammar system even for the most
widespread languages?

(1) (2) (3) (4)

i) image 1 ii) image 2
iii) image 3 iv) image 4
(f) Some of the most recent languages evolved due to the......
i) Atlantic slave trade ii) complex grammar system
iii) weak pronunciation iv) none of these
(g) What is common to all languages?
i) basic grammar ii) the sign rules
iii) grammar is common to all languages iv) series of gestures
(h) According to the passage what can be attributed as a consequence of the Atlantic slave trade?
i) language’s creation and documenting its emergence
ii) evolution of some of the most recent languages
iii) many word tricks can be performed to convey subtle differences in meaning
iv) a statement can be turned into a question
(i) What are creoles?
i) sign languages of deaf
ii) complex grammar systems which emerge from pidgins
iii) strings of words copied from the language of the landowner
iv) logical grammar invented by children
 (j) Which word in the passage means opposite to ‘easy’? (para 1)
i) sequences ii) variation
iii) crude iv) complex
(k) Which word in the passage means ‘Innate’? (para 5)
i) inborn ii) location
iii) ability iv) free
(l) ethnicities means (para 3)
i) belonging to a social group that has common national or cultural tradition.
ii) play group of children iii) political party
iv) none of the above

Q.2 Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow: (1x5=5)
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I’ve tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice
(i) The poet uses the “ice” as a symbol of
(a) Lust (b) Love (c) Desire (d) Hatred
(ii) The poet feels that there is no way of saving the worlds as
(a) love among people is increasing fast
(b) hatred among people is increasing fast.
(c) lust among people is decreasing fast.
(d) human lust and desires are endless.
(iii) The word ‘Perish’ DOES NOT have a meaning similar to
(a) beginning (b) decay (c) sick (d) die
(iv) By ‘….And would suffice’, the poet wants to convey that
(a) the world would end soon (b) fire and ice are equally powerful
(c) ice would be equally competent in ending the world.
(d) hatred is stronger than desires.
(v) The word that DOES NOT indicate a true meaning of “great” is
(a) sufficient (b) powerful (c) rigid (d) colossal

GRAMMAR
Q.3 Fill in the blanks by choosing the correct options given below. (1x5)
(i) I _________ this book since morning.
(a) had been read (b) have had read
(c) have been reading (d) shall be reading
(ii) Sneha ________ water sports.
(a) does not enjoys (b) does not enjoyed
(b) does not enjoy (c) do not enjoys
(iii) We ______ leave station after the train departs.
(a) are (b) had
(c) is (d) will
(iv) You will have reached home before __________.
(a) the rain sets in (b) the rain has set in
(c) the rain had set in (d) the rain was setting in
(v) We _______ borrow money as there was a lack of funds.
(a) had to (b) has to
(c) have to (d) will
 PART B (20 MARKS)
Q.4 You are Aman/Shalu, Sales Manager of Modern Shoes, Delhi. You placed a bulk order with
Messers Ramani Shoes, Delhi for the supply of shoes for your showroom. The firm has
failed to execute the order. In spite of your many reminders, there is no positive response
from them. Write a letter to the firm that you are constrained to cancel the order that you
had placed to them. (5)
OR
You are C.S.Patel, General Manager, Patel enterprises, Vadodara. You need various items of
furniture and stationery for your newly constructed head office. Write a letter to Kuber
Official Works, Vadodara placing a bulk order for the supply giving all details of the items
ordered.

Q.5 Answer the following questions in 20-30 words. (2x2=4)

i) Describe the gradual progress of Tricki at the surgery.
ii) How did the poet feel before the ‘change of mood’? Why did he feel so?

Q.6 Answer the following questions in 40-50 words. (3x2=6)

i) What did Lencho write in his second letter to God? Why did he ask him not to send the rest of
money by post mail?
ii) What excuses did Mrs. Pumphrey give for not following Dr. Harriot’s advice? What was the
effect of the ignorance?

Q.7 Answer the following question in 100-120 words (Any one): (1x5=5)
i) Give a character sketch of the postmaster in your own words. Don’t you think that he should
have deserved a better recognition and appreciation of his act of charity?
OR
ii) Why did Dr. James Herriot say that he was tempted to keep Tricki on as a permanent guest?
Give a reasoned answer.
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